Plastic pollution in our seas

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by Fransw

Sadly its almost impossible to police this. Maybe its time to really look at an environmental friendly alternative for plastic containers/bottles/bags..

We had glass bottles, waxed paper containers, paper straws and bags for a few. Maybe it is time to take a step backwards.

[GordMay]

Earlier this year (May 2019), 180 parties (countries) to the Basel Convention reached agreement, on a legally binding, globally reaching mechanism for managing plastic waste around the world, that aims to sharply reduce the amount of plastic that gets washed into the world's oceans.
At the meeting, the United States, while not a party to the Convention, worked with Argentina and Brazil to scuttle the agreement in support of ISRI* and the Plastics and Chemicals industries present. Their efforts however were rebuffed and the decision was adopted by consensus.
➥ https://www.ban.org/news/2019/5/10/b...ic-waste-trade
➥ https://www.recyclingtoday.com/artic...c-scrap-trade/

* ISRI - Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries

[RaymondR]

Public education works.

Decades ago many people threw rubbish from their cars and as a consequence the road sides in Australia were littered with cans, bottles and cigarette packets. Various governments ran anti litter advertising campaigns and it is now very unusual (in most parts of Australia) to see roadside litter.

[Simi 60]

Approx 100kg of plastic found inside dead whale

https://m.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/...whale/3893199/

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by dzhiurgis

.

Also it's the plastic disposal that's an issue. If you are in civilised world it's really non issue (personally haven't seen pretty much any plastic in NZ or around Baltic Sea). It's the several rivers around Asia that produce 90% of plastic waste in oceans. Your Facebook activism won't help much here.

The so called "Civilised" world move their problems onto someone else.
What did you think was going to happen to it?

.
157,000 Shipping Containers of US Plastic Waste Exported to Countries with Poor Waste Management in 2018

https://www.plasticpollutioncoalitio...gement-in-2018

. For many years Australia has been exporting millions of tonnes of plastic and other recyclable waste, but that may soon change, with governments agreeing to phase out the practice and boost local recycling capacity.
https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/progr...rseas/11400496

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by krafthaus

There should be bans on plastic shopping bags and styrofoam food containers. We see too much of both in the water.

Reusable shopping bags is a solution for the first. Congratulations to places that no longer allow stores to use disposable plastic shopping bags.

Biodegradable paper containers is a solution for the second. It means cutting down trees but that is a renewable resource at least.

There has been a ban on plastic shopping bags in Australia and many parts of Asia for a while now.
Some parts of Asia even offer public transport rides in exchange for plastic rubbish.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/pl...23-p50bi2.html

We have used plastic shopping bags as our rubbish bags for decades, never have we had to purchase rubbish bags.........ever.
Until last week.
Now we have run out of shopping bags we have been forced to buy plastic bin bags.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by Simi 60

There has been a ban on plastic shopping bags in Australia and many parts of Asia for a while now.
Some parts of Asia even offer public transport rides in exchange for plastic rubbish.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/pl...23-p50bi2.html

We have used plastic shopping bags as our rubbish bags for decades, never have we had to purchase rubbish bags.........ever.
Until last week.
Now we have run out of shopping bags we have been forced to buy plastic bin bags.

We make a concerted effort to recycle everything. It seems plastic bags foul up there machinery? We have to pour my beer cans into the recycle can out of the plastic bag used in the house can, along with other recyclables. I wonder how many people just say screw it, since most line there inside can with a bag. Something as petty as that may cause people to just send it to the land fill.

[Hardhead]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Something I find easy, is any time I go for a walk, I bring a small plastic sack with me, and I pick up blown trash, which then gets put in a trash bin. It's only a little, one person's effort, but the journey of a thousand miles starts with one step.

...
Ann

Instead of looking for seashells, I've also gotten in the habit of bringing an old grocery bag for trash on hikes & beach walks. It's actually rewarding in a way, and not completely un-fun.

It's a drop in a bucket of the big picture, but if it became a popular habit, from young people on up, it might help in some bigger ways.

[Seymore]

Does New York City still barge their garbage out to sea and dump it there?

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Seymore

Does New York City still barge their garbage out to sea and dump it there?

No.
NYC was the last American city to dump it’s trash/garbage in the ocean, until a Federal ban on the practice, came into effect in 1992.
Now, the only “garbage” that is dumped in the ocean, are large, non-toxic items such as retired subway cars, that are used to promote the development of sea life through the creation of artificial reefs.
See ➥ https://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/29/n...ts-sludge.html

[JoeRobertJr]

Recently released TED talk from artist raising awareness of plastic pollution on beaches.
https://www.ted.com/talks/alejandro_..._in_our_oceans

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by GordMay

No.
NYC was the last American city to dump it’s trash/garbage in the ocean, until a Federal ban on the practice, came into effect in 1992.
Now, the only “garbage” that is dumped in the ocean, are large, non-toxic items such as retired subway cars, that are used to promote the development of sea life through the creation of artificial reefs.
See ➥ https://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/29/n...ts-sludge.html

I believe there is a dead zone out past Sandy Hook where the garbage scows dumped. Then they established the biggest garbage in the country on Staten Island which is now closed. I wonder what they do with it now? There was an attempt to barge it to SC which failed.

[RaymondR]

Originally Posted by Simi 60

There has been a ban on plastic shopping bags in Australia and many parts of Asia for a while now.
Some parts of Asia even offer public transport rides in exchange for plastic rubbish.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/pl...23-p50bi2.html

We have used plastic shopping bags as our rubbish bags for decades, never have we had to purchase rubbish bags.........ever.
Until last week.
Now we have run out of shopping bags we have been forced to buy plastic bin bags.

I have had the same experience. We went through this years ago until a Productivity Commission study found that most plastic shopping bags were recycled for trash disposal, bin liners etc. But the zealots didn't give up and the present bans again came into force. We'll see what happens when the political cycle swings the other way again.

There are a lot of other single usage plastics which have absolutely no utility for reuse which are far more deserving of banning than the shopping bags but shopping bags appear to have become another symbolic issue.

[Hardhead]

Here's an interesting article. Seems to be the way of the future.

https://www.livescience.com/dead-spe...ash-belly.html

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

... There are a lot of other single usage plastics which have absolutely no utility for reuse which are far more deserving of banning than the shopping bags but shopping bags appear to have become another symbolic issue.

I suspect you may well be right. It's a complicated issue, which isn't likely to have simple solutions.

A 2018 Danish study, looking at the number of times a bag should be reused, before being used as a bin liner and then discarded, found that:
polypropylene bags (most of the green reusable bags found at supermarkets) should be used 37 times
paper bags should be used 43 times
cotton bags should be used 7,100 times.
➥ https://www2.mst.dk/Udgiv/publicatio...93614-73-4.pdf

A UK study, which only considered the climate change impact, found that to have lower global warming potential than single-use plastic bags:
paper bags should be used three times
low-density polyethylene bags (the thicker plastic bags commonly used in supermarkets) should be used four times
non-woven polypropylene bags should be used 11 times
cotton bags should be used 131 times.
➥ https://assets.publishing.service.go...11buan-e-e.pdf